Creating a New Template

Click Create Template from the Templates listing page. The creation page has three progress steps shown at the top:

Step 1: Basic Info  →  Step 2: Components  →  Step 3: Variables

Each step shows a green checkmark when completed correctly. All three steps must be green before you can submit.

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Screenshot: Full Create Template page with progress stepper

create-page-full.png

1. Click "Create Template" button from the listing page
2. Capture the full create page showing the 3-step progress stepper at top and the form below
Save to: static/img/screenshots/templates/creating-template/create-page-full.png

Step 1: Basic Information

This is the first section you fill in. It defines the basic details of your template.

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Screenshot: Basic Information form — Name, Category, Language, Type, Parameter Format

basic-info-section.png

1. On the Create Template page
2. Fill in a sample template name, select a category, language, type, and parameter format
3. Capture the entire Basic Information card with all fields visible
Save to: static/img/screenshots/templates/creating-template/basic-info-section.png

Template Name

Give your template a unique name.

• Use only lowercase letters, numbers, and underscores
• No spaces or special characters (they get auto-converted to underscores)
• The system checks instantly if the name is already taken

Good examples:

• order_confirmation
• welcome_new_customer
• payment_reminder_v2
• shipping_update

Bad examples:

• Order Confirmation (has uppercase and spaces)
• payment-reminder (has a hyphen)

tip

Choose a name that clearly describes the purpose. Your team will see this name when selecting templates to send messages.

Category

Choose what type of message this template is for:

Category	When to use it	Examples
Marketing	Promotions, offers, announcements	Sale alerts, new product launches, newsletters
Utility	Transactional updates your customer expects	Order confirmations, shipping updates, appointment reminders
Authentication	Verification codes and OTPs	Login OTP, account verification, password reset

Important

Pick the right category! WhatsApp will reject your template if the content doesn't match the category. For example, a promotional offer in a "Utility" template will be rejected.

Language

Select the language from the dropdown. You can type to search — just start typing the language name and it will filter the list.

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Screenshot: Language dropdown with search

language-dropdown.png

1. On the Create Template page, click the Language dropdown
2. Type a few letters in the search box to show the filtered list
3. Capture the open dropdown with search and language options visible
Save to: static/img/screenshots/templates/creating-template/language-dropdown.png

Over 100 languages are supported including English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Arabic, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and many more.

Template Type

(This field is hidden for Authentication templates)

Choose the format of your message:

Type	What it is
Text	A simple text-only message
Image	Message with an image at the top
Video	Message with a video at the top
Document	Message with a file (PDF, etc.) at the top
Location	Message with a location/map
Carousel	A set of swipeable cards (2 to 10 cards)
Catalog	Shows your full product catalog
SPM	Single Product Message — highlights one product
MPM	Multi-Product Message — shows multiple products

info

The most commonly used types are Text, Image, and Document. Use Carousel, Catalog, SPM, and MPM for product-focused messaging.

Parameter Format

(This field is hidden for Authentication templates)

Choose how you want to write placeholders (the blanks you fill in each time you send):

Format	How it looks	Example
Positional	{{1}}, {{2}}, {{3}}	"Hello {{1}}, your order {{2}} is ready"
Named	{{customername}}, {{orderid}}	"Hello {{customername}}, your order {{orderid}} is ready"

Recommendation

Named parameters are easier for your team to understand. {{customername}} is much clearer than {{1}} when someone is filling in values while sending a message.

Note: Named parameters must use only lowercase letters — no numbers, spaces, or special characters.

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After filling in Basic Info, scroll down to add components to your template. See the next sections for details.